Summary: We will not investigate Mrs Q’s complaint about care home fees the Council charged for her Mother’s care. This is because the complaint is late.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I have called Mrs Q, complained Norfolk County Council wrongly charged her mother, Mrs D, for her care when she was discharged from hospital.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
3. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered the information Mrs Q and the Council provided. I considered Mrs Q’s comments on a draft of this decision.

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What I found

What happened

5. Mrs D was discharged from hospital in 2018 into a care home. Mrs Q thought Mrs D would receive reablement care, for which there would be no charge.
6. Mrs Q complained to the Council in early 2019 about the charges for Mrs D’s care. The Council told her Mrs D was not suitable for reablement care and was in respite care, for which there was a charge. The Council said it had explained this to Mrs Q before Mrs D’s discharge from hospital.
7. Mrs Q said she emailed the Council about her complaint during 2019, including in November 2019, which the Council acknowledged. Mrs Q said she assumed the Council had closed her complaint when she heard nothing more from it by the end of January 2020.
8. The Council responded to Mrs Q’s complaint in November 2020 advising her she could complain to us. She did so in February 2021.
9. Mrs Q said she was in a distressed state after deciding to leave her Mother in care, and the whole experience had had an impact on her health.

Assessment

10. We will not investigate this complaint.
11. The events complained of happened in 2018. Mrs Q did not complain to us until 2021. So the complaint is late. I do not doubt Mrs Q suffered distress when she decided to leave her Mother in care. Nor do I doubt Mrs Q’s health has been impacted. However, the available evidence shows Mrs Q did not pursue the matter with the Council for long periods and then took three months to bring the complaint to us when it told her she could do so. So there are no good reasons for us to consider the complaint now.

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Final decision

12. We will not investigate Mrs Q’s complaint. This is because it is late.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman